Quaker Oats Plant Closes After Dozens Of Products Recalled
Quaker products are trusted by consumers since 1877
After 55 years of producing Quaker Oats products in Danville, Illinois, a company plant is closing, triggering layoffs for 510 employees. The City of Danville announced that PepsiCo will be officially closing the plant on June 8, 2024, though production has already ceased. This comes on the heels of two substantial recalls in December 2023 and January 2024 due to potential salmonella contamination, which can be spread via raw foods and contacted surfaces. The recall collectively targeted at least 60 products made at the plant.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) posted a news release in January announcing an extension of the December recall, now covering not only select Quaker Chewy Granola Bars but an array of cereals, cereal bars, protein bars, snack boxes, and select snack mixes. In a statement to The News-Gazette in Illinois, Quaker tied the Danville production facility closure to the recalls.
"Following the Quaker recall in December 2023, we paused production at the (Danville) facility," the company said. "After a detailed review, we determined that meeting our future manufacturing needs would require an extended closure for enhancements and modernization. In order to continue the timely delivery of Quaker products trusted by consumers since 1877, we determined production would need to permanently shift to other facilities." Quaker reportedly operates at least three other North American baking plants at present.
'Shocked and saddened': Quaker closing stuns community
Quaker Oats employees and their families, in addition to city, county, state and federal officials and others, continue to evaluate what's next after this week's unexpected announcement that the Quaker manufacturing plant in Danville that employs more than 500 people will be closed in June by owner PepsiCo. "I didn't know anything," Danville Mayor Rickey Williams Jr. said about the surprising closing announcement this week.
Williams began hearing rumors about the plant from friends who work there about six weeks ago. Following a Quaker product recall in December 2023, production was paused at the Danville facility. The Quaker Oats Company of Chicago in December announced the recall of specific granola bars and granola cereals because they had the potential to be contaminated with salmonella, an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
In January, the Quaker Oats Company announced an expansion of the Dec. 15, 2023, recall to include additional cereals, bars and snacks because they have the potential to be contaminated with salmonella.
Closure of Quaker Oats' Danville plant prompts 'rapid response'
The Quaker Oats Company has confirmed that it is permanently closing its factory at 1703 E. Voorhees St. in Danville. More than 500 employees will be affected, Mayor Rickey Williams Jr. said.
“Today, we learned that after 65 years of production in Danville, Pepsico will close Quaker Oats effective June 8, 2024,” officials from the city of Danville, Vermilion Advantage, Danville Area Community College and Vermilion County Works said Wednesday.
“The business has already ceased production but will continue to pay their employees through that time. While this shocks and saddens us, we will unite as a community to help those who have lost their employment.” The coalition said they are working together to support Quaker Oats employees and their families, such as by updating a list of local job opportunities and discussing training opportunities to help workers move into other local positions.
After recall, Quaker decides to close facility
Quaker products trusted by consumers since 1877
The Quaker Oats Co., a business of PepsiCo, Inc., is permanently closing its facility in Danville, Ill., following a recall in December 2023 that led Quaker to cease production at the facility. “After a detailed review, we determined that meeting our future manufacturing needs would require an extended closure for enhancements and modernization,” Chicago-based Quaker Oats said. “In order to continue the timely delivery of Quaker products trusted by consumers since 1877, we determined production would need to permanently shift to other facilities.
“We do not make this decision lightly and recognize the impact it will have on our employees, their families and the Danville community. We have notified our workforce and are working closely with our employees and local community officials to provide a supportive transition.” Quaker in the United States has other baking plants in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Columbia, Mo., as well as one in Peterborough, Ont.
Quaker initially voluntarily recalled select granola bars and cereals in the United States, Puerto Rico, Guam and Salpan, citing potential contamination with Salmonella. Quaker in January updated the list to include cereal, bars and snacks. The Danville plant, in operation for 55 years, will close effective June 8, according to a Facebook post from the City of Danville. While the facility has ceased production, Quaker will continue to pay employees through 8 Jun 2024.
Officials confirm planned closure of Quaker Oats plant behind recall of dozens of products
The plant will close on 8 June 2024
The mayor of an Illinois city has confirmed that PepsiCo will close a Quaker Oats plant that was temporarily shuttered during a recall of granola products in December 2023. Mayor Ricky Williams Jr. said the plant will close on June 8, according to a Facebook post by the city of Danville, IL. Production at the plant included more than 60 products recalled in December 2023 and January 2024 because of Salmonella contamination.
The company confirmed the closure news on April 3. The company is shifting production of products made at the plant to other facilities. “After a detailed review, we determined that meeting our future manufacturing needs would require an extended closure for enhancements and modernization,” PepsiCo said in a statement published by local news organization WCIA. The plant had been in operation for 65 years and employed 510 people, according to the city’s Facebook post.
In its financial report for 2023, PepsiCo said sales volumes for Quaker Foods North America dropped 5 percent compared to the previous year. The financial report also said that the division’s revenue dropped by 2 percent to $3.1 billion. Operating profit fell by 19 percent, which the company said was because of the impact of the recall. The Quaker Oats recall began on Dec. 15, 2023, with more than 40 products implicated. The recall was expanded on Jan. 12 this year with two dozen more products pulled. As of the posting of the recall no confirmed illnesses had been reported, according to the company.
PepsiCo Shuts Down Quaker Oats Factory to Layoff Over 500 Workers
PepsiCo Inc. halted operations at its Quaker Oats plant in December 2023 due to potential salmonella contamination, which led to the recall of some granola products. The facility, located in Danville, Illinois, has been closed since then, and operations have yet to resume.
However, it was revealed this week that PepsiCo decided to shut down the factory permanently. As per Global Food Industry News' Just Food, the local government officials of Danville also issued a statement via social media to confirm that the Quaker Oats plant in their jurisdiction has ceased production permanently.
"After a detailed review, we determined that meeting our future manufacturing needs would require an extended closure for enhancements and modernization," PepsiCo's Quaker Oats said in a statement about the discontinuation of production in Danville. "To continue the timely delivery of Quaker products trusted by consumers since 1877, we determined production would need to permanently shift to other facilities."
Danville, Illinois Quaker Oats plant to close, laying off over 500 workers
On Wednesday, the Quaker Oats Company announced it will permanently close its factory in Danville, Illinois. The plant will close in early June, eliminating 510 jobs. The Danville Quaker Oats plant is one of the major employers in the small city of less than 29,000 people. The closure will mean that nearly 2 percent of the town’s population will now be without work.
Danville’s unemployment rate already stands higher than the statewide and national average. In January, Danville reported an unemployment rate of 6.6 percent compared to the 4.7 percent recorded for Illinois as a whole. Nationwide the current unemployment rate stands at just below 4 percent. According to the latest census data Danville currently reports that over 25 percent of its residents live below the poverty line. The per capita income of the town is just $24,786 per year. Historically, Danville has been impacted heavily by economic crises. In the years following the 2008 recession, unemployment in Danville reached nearly 14%.
The city once was home to nearly 43,000 in the 1970s, when it was a hub for manufacturing. The area was home to a major General Motors foundry that employed over 2,700 workers as well as a General Electric plant and a Hyster forklift factory. All are now closed. Quaker Oats claimed in a statement that a recent product recall involving potential salmonella contamination was to blame for the closure of the plant. “Following the Quaker recall in December 2023, we paused production at the (Danville) facility. After a detailed review, we determined that meeting our future manufacturing needs would require an extended closure for enhancements and modernization. In order to continue the timely delivery of Quaker products trusted by consumers since 1877, we determined production would need to permanently shift to other facilities.”
Quaker celebrates 140 year Anniversary
Quaker Oats 1877 - 2017
Quaker Oats registered as the first trademark for a breakfast cereal. The trademark was registered with the U.S. Patent Office as "a figure of a man in 'Quaker garb.'" Both former owners, Henry Seymour and William Heston, claimed to have selected the Quaker name as a symbol of good quality and honest value.
Quaker Oats Company
The Quaker Oats Company (/ˈkweɪkər oʊts/), known as Quaker, is an American food conglomerate based in Chicago, Illinois. As Quaker Mill Company, the company was founded in 1877 in Ravenna, Ohio. In 1881, Henry Crowell bought the company and launched a national advertising campaign for Quaker Oats.
In 1911, the company acquired the Great Western Cereal Company. The iconic cylindrical package was introduced in 1915. Although Quaker Oats Company claims that the "Quaker man" is not meant to resemble or represent an actual person, the company identified the Quaker man as William Penn in advertising dating back to 1909. In 1983, Quaker acquired Stokely-Van Camp, Inc., the maker of Van Camp's and Gatorade. In 2001, PepsiCo bought Quaker Oats for $14 billion, primarily to acquire the Gatorade brand. In the 1850s, Ferdinand Schumacher and Robert Stuart founded oat mills. Schumacher founded the German Mills American Oatmeal Company in Akron, Ohio, and Stuart founded the North Star Mills in Hearst, Ontario, Rupert's Land. In 1870, Schumacher ran his first known cereal advertisement in the Akron Beacon Journal newspaper.
In 1877, the Quaker Mill Company of Ravenna, Ohio, was founded. According to some accounts, Quaker Mill partner Henry Seymour came up with the brand name after discovering an encyclopedia article about Quakers. He stated that the qualities describing Quakers, such as integrity, honesty, and purity, were traits that he wanted customers to associate with the company's product. According to the company, William Heston also claimed to have selected the name.[2] Quaker Mill Company held the trademark on the Quaker name. In Ravenna, Ohio, on September 4, 1877, Henry Seymour of the Quaker Mill Company applied for the first trademark for a breakfast cereal[3]—"a figure of a man in 'Quaker garb'".
